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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods used to provide and maintain environment stabilization, and, more specifically, to systems and methods providing environment stabilization of a group of vehicles achieved through structural modifications combined with an environmental stabilization system remotely monitored and controlled using electronic networks.
2. Background
Uncontrolled atmospheric conditions are known to have deleterious effects upon many types of equipment and components during both operation and storage. In particular, extreme relative humidity and temperature levels and variations in these environmental conditions place considerable mechanical stress on components and systems due to, among other things, different moisture absorption rates and thermal expansion coefficients of the various materials of the components used in a given system or piece of equipment. Furthermore, variation in relative humidity and temperature contributes to chemical breakdown of system components, their materials and the bonding of materials therebetween. These effects can significantly impact overall system reliability, availability, life expectancy, maintenance frequency and support costs.
Electronic components are particularly sensitive to extreme relative humidity levels. High atmospheric moisture content, as indicated by high relative humidity, not only exacerbates chemical breakdown, but also impacts the reliable operation of electronic circuits due to corrosion forming on integrated circuits resulting in reduced or broken circuits, short circuits, reduced conductivity of the components, leads, circuit board assemblies/substrates and connectors. At the other extreme, low atmospheric moisture content, as indicated by very low relative humidity, can also impact the reliable operation of electronic circuits due to increased likelihood of unwanted electrical arcing and Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) events caused by static electrical charge buildup. ESD in particular can cause catastrophic failure of integrated circuit (IC) devices during storage or operation.
Therefore, systems and methods have developed to maintain atmospheric conditions at acceptable humidity and temperature levels. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,293,316 to Stebbins discloses a method and apparatus for controlling temperatures of the interior of railroad freight cars by directing conditioned air from an external apparatus into the interior of one or more such freight cars. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 2,620,636 to Stanton shows an external air conditioning system for automobiles that directs conditioned air from an external apparatus into the interior of an automobile through its window. U.S. Pat. No. 3,777,506 to Hergatt et al. shows a portable external air conditioner apparatus for use with recreational vehicles and the like, while U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,977 to Haglund et al. shows an external air conditioner for use with parked aircraft. U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,538 to Anthony shows a portable external temperature maintenance system for use with insulated cargo containers. However, the above systems and methods have significant limitations.
It is often efficient to store equipment in groups (such as, for example, a fleet of vehicles) at a single location, or to concentrate such vehicles in clustered groupings. For example, military vehicles are often stored and maintained at a central facility for storage, maintenance and accountability purposes. Equipment and vehicles at such facilities are either stored inside a building or outside in a staging area. Furthermore, it is often imperative to maintain and store certain types of equipment, such as military equipment, in a manner that provides a high state of readiness to support rapid transition from storage to field deployment. Additionally, detailed knowledge and understanding of the current maintenance and availability status for stored equipment is important in assessing the ability of a group of vehicles to meet a particular anticipated demand profile. In the context of military vehicles, this knowledge directly supports force strength assessment and deployment planning activities. Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a remotely monitored and controlled environmental stabilization system that provides not only environmental status information for stored and/or staged vehicles, but also provides other information directly relating to the accurate location and operational status of the stored and/or staged vehicles and equipment.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method that provides for environmental stabilization of the atmospheric conditions experienced by stored and/or staged equipment and certain components thereof.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system and method that provides for electronic remote and local automated control and remote monitoring of environmental conditions.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a system and method that provides remote monitoring and alerting of changes in equipment location, maintenance, availability status as well as an automated exception alert if an environmental stabilization system is not functioning within its design parameters.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a system and method that stores data compiled from the system in a data warehouse for retrieval to generate automated reports customized to meet both the user""s requirements and the requirements of the service technicians to assess and troubleshoot the system.
These as well as other objects of the present invention will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon inspection of this specification and the associated drawings.